True Devil Sect
The surroundings were crowded with trembling figures, mostly children.
The air was filled with fear and bewilderment, like a sticky spiderweb wrapping around everyone.
Wang Fan stood frozen among them, like a lifeless stone statue.
His eyes were hollow, but his thoughts drifted back uncontrollably to that dim evening.
The dilapidated thatched hut, the oil lamp flickering like a bean. Father and Mother stood awkwardly before a stranger dressed in black, their faces displaying a fawning smile mixed with a hint of reluctance.
"Two taels, just two taels of silver, this child... please take him." Mother choked up slightly, but in the end, she didn't look back at him.
Father tucked the heavy two taels of broken silver into his chest, as if carrying the hope of the whole family.
Two taels of silver.
The price of a child.
Wang Fan's heart had been frozen at that moment. He wasn't sent here to Cultivate immortality, but like livestock, he was sold.
A 'commodity' priced at two taels of silver.
Low sobs came from nearby.
A little girl who looked only six or seven years old hugged her knees, her shoulders trembling non-stop.
Older ones, like fifteen-year-old Wang Fan, were mostly silent, their eyes showing either unwillingness, resignation, or like Wang Fan, only numbness remained.
They were all 'sent' to this True Devil Sect by their parents for various reasons and at various prices.
On the high platform ahead stood several Devil Sect Disciples dressed in dark, tight-fitting clothes, their expressions stern, as if looking at a flock of lambs waiting to be slaughtered.
Leading them was a middle-aged man, his eyes sharp like an eagle's, scanning the dense crowd below.
"Silence!" the middle-aged man barked.
An invisible pressure instantly suppressed all the noise and crying.
"Today is the day you decide your fate."
"True Devil Sect does not raise waste. The Spiritual Root Test begins now!"
He pointed to a half-human-tall black Spiritual Root Testing Stone nearby: "Place your hand on it and inject your full concentration. Low Grade Spiritual Roots will be demoted to servant slaves, their life and death determined by fate. Mid-grade and High Grade Spiritual Roots can enter the Outer Sect, become registered Disciples, and have the opportunity to Cultivate."
As soon as he finished speaking, the crowd stirred.
Slaves?
Born as humans, how could they be slaves?
The next moment, the middle-aged man casually pointed and killed a small child.
"*Gasp*!"
The crowd fell silent, like cicadas in winter.
If your life is at stake, disregard what I just said.
The test began.
The children were called forward one by one.
"Zhang San, Low Grade Earth Spiritual Root, talent!"
"Li Si, Low Grade Water Spiritual Root, talent!"
"......"
The black Spiritual Root Testing Stone only emitted a faint light, its color mottled and dim.
Every declaration of 'Low Grade' was accompanied by a child's desperate cry and the fate of being roughly dragged away.
The atmosphere below the high platform became increasingly oppressive, like a solidified swamp.
Occasionally, there were a few lucky ones.
"Zhao Wu, mid-grade Metal Spiritual Root, enter the Outer Sect!"
The Spiritual Root Testing Stone lit up with a relatively bright light, not dazzling, but enough to make the child's face show the ecstasy of surviving a disaster.
Envious, even jealous, gazes were cast from the surroundings.
Time passed little by little. Nearly a hundred people had been tested, most were Low Grade, and there were very few mid-grade ones.
Just as everyone was becoming numb, even somewhat desperate, a tall and thin young man walked forward.
"Sun Hao, step forward for testing!"
The young man placed his hand on the Spiritual Root Testing Stone and closed his eyes.
Buzz!
The Spiritual Root Testing Stone suddenly erupted with dazzling crimson light, like burning flames, illuminating the surroundings in a fiery red!
The intensity of the light far surpassed all the previous mid-grade Spiritual Roots!
"High Grade! It's a High Grade Fire Spiritual Root!" The middle-aged man on the high platform was surprised, then revealed a satisfied smile.
The crowd below also burst into exclamations.
A High Grade Spiritual Root, this is definitely a good prospect who can enter the Inner Sect in the future!
True Devil Sect values strength above all. Outer Sect accepts Qi Refining Disciples, Inner Sect accepts Building Foundation Disciples, True Disciple has no cultivation limit, provided they catch the eye of a Core Formation grand cultivator!
The young man named Sun Hao had irrepressible ecstasy on his face, as if he had already seen his glorious future.
Finally, it was Wang Fan's turn.
"Wang Fan, step forward for testing!"
He walked forward silently, the crowd's gaze focused on him.
Having experienced the shock of the High Grade Spiritual Root, everyone didn't have much hope for the people who followed, just watching as a matter of routine.
Wang Fan extended his hand, his fingertips cold, and lightly pressed them onto the equally cold Spiritual Root Testing Stone.
Boom!!!
Like a dormant volcano erupting suddenly!
The Spiritual Root Testing Stone first erupted with a more intense and purer crimson flame light than Sun Hao's just now, almost impossible to look at directly!
But this wasn't the end!
Immediately after, a similarly majestic and vast emerald green light, like towering ancient trees, shot up from the ground, reflecting the crimson light and coiling around it!
One red and one green, two completely different extreme lights, illuminated the entire testing ground as if it were daytime!
Burning heat and vitality, two contradictory forces, yet perfectly merged on the Spiritual Root Testing Stone, emitting a terrifying pressure that made people's hearts palpitate!
"This... this is..."
The middle-aged man on the high platform showed a look of shock and horror for the first time, even subconsciously taking half a step back.
The surrounding Devil Sect Disciples were even more dumbfounded and at a loss.
The children below, including Sun Hao with the High Grade Fire Spiritual Root, all opened their mouths wide, staring in disbelief at the world-destroying light before them.
"Fire... Fire-Wood... Supreme-grade! It's a supreme-grade dual Spiritual Root!!"
The entire place was dead silent.
So quiet you could hear a pin drop.
A supreme-grade Spiritual Root! And a supreme-grade Spiritual Root of two attributes!
Wang Fan silently withdrew his hand.
The light on the Spiritual Root Testing Stone slowly dissipated, the residual pressure still making the air tremble.
The middle-aged man took a deep breath, and the look in his eyes towards Wang Fan completely changed.
"Low Grade Spiritual Roots, all of you be taken to the servant quarters! Mid-grade and High Grade Spiritual Roots, follow me to register in the Outer Sect!"
Those children judged to have Low Grade Spiritual Roots were dragged away crying, their fates completely plunged into darkness at this moment.
Sun Hao, the one with the High Grade Spiritual Root, although his face showed joy, the look in his eyes towards Wang Fan was full of jealousy.
He should have been the most dazzling existence, but now his thunder was stolen.
As the middle-aged man was about to leave with those with mid and High Grade Spiritual Roots, he paused, turned his gaze to Wang Fan, and said politely: "Wang Fan, you... come with me."
He didn't say where they were going, nor did he explain.
Wang Fan raised his head and looked at the middle-aged man.
He wasn't assigned among the Outer Sect disciples; he was taken away separately.
The middle-aged man led the way, heading towards the depths of the True Devil Sect, towards the core area shrouded in Restrictions.
That place was somewhere even ordinary Inner Sect Disciples had no right to set foot.
True Disciple!